No unmanned rail crossings

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has asked the railways to remove all unmanned level crossings within a year, instead of the initial goal of doing it in three years. Addressing a function at IIM in Kolkata, he said around 5,000 unmanned level crossings, which account for nearly 30-35 per cent of total rail accidents, need to be removed in the next one year. Mr Goyal also advocated the use of technology to reduce manual maintenance of rail tracks, as it entails huge manpower. The minister said that the RailTel corporation has already prepared the optic fibre network for improving communication.